Scylla: the church of the Holy Spirit at Marina Grande

Where is the church of the Holy Spirit

The Church of the Holy Spirit appears at the bottom of a small square in the oldest heart of Scylla's Marina Grande. A plaque indicates the year of its founding, 1762, at the behest of a member of the dominant Ruffo family. At the high altar is a remarkable painting, Pentecost, referring to the descent of the Holy Spirit as described in the Acts of the Apostles in the form of flames. Author, Neapolitan Francesco Celebrano, active between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries at the Bourbon court, testifying to the consideration the rulers had for Scylla.

Since 1762, an unchanged grace

A unique case in Scylla, the church retains its original, late Baroque forms, having survived recurrent earthquakes with not irreparable damage. Rather, because of its location, it has suffered the fury of the sea, both during a tidal wave, the consequence of a coastal landslide, and during exceptional sea storms, however without being destroyed. The facade, in particular, opened by a molded portal and a curvilinear oculus, has retained all the gracefulness of its time. Proportionate and graceful, too, is the bell tower. Overall, a small jewel.

Baroque and St. Francis of Paola

The interior has everything expected of a Baroque church in terms of stucco and decoration. At the end of the single nave is the marble high altar, with the apse punctuated by the wooden choir stalls. This decoration hints at the important seafaring confraternity that had taken up residence here. Which, brings the discourse to the cult of St. Francis of Paola, patron saint of Calabria and the seafarers of Italy, represented here in painting at the left altar, but especially in a wooden statue that has its moment of prominence on the anniversary of the canonization of the Franciscan saint.

Not to be missed: the feast of St. Francis

In early May, in fact, the Church of the Holy Spirit is at the center of the long-awaited Feast of St. Francis. The solemnity has its most characteristic moment in the recitation of the rosary in the vernacular, which begins with the words "San Franciscu cu s'abitu ri lana..." referring to the habit dressed by the Minims, an order he founded. The key moment of the day, however, is the procession with the effigy of the saint carried on the shoulders first as far as the beach for the laying of a wreath in suffrage of those lost at sea, then between two wings of the crowd through the narrow streets of Marina Grande and Chianalea. As a traditional side dish, popular games and the inevitable fireworks.